


Kiss and Bell

by Maggies_Scribblings



Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26652763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggies_Scribblings/pseuds/Maggies_Scribblings
Summary: Alya's New Year's Eve party was always a Big Deal, and Marinette was excited about it. Especially after how bad a year that had been. She's an adult, single and ready to party. Nothing could go wrong. Right?Right?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687726
Comments: 8
Kudos: 188
Collections: Miraculous Writer's Guild September Event 2020





	Kiss and Bell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fleur_de_Jasmin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_de_Jasmin/gifts).



> _Written for the[Miraculous Writer's Guild](https://mlwritersguild.tumblr.com/) September event. Let me know if you like it! _

“Oh, great!” she mumbled to herself as she put her phone back in her pocket. “A perfect ending to the worst year ever!”

When the Akuma alert sounded at about 11 pm, Marinette had to come up with another lame excuse. Right when Alya’s party was getting interesting (i.e. when Adrien arrived).

She sighed after greeting him — after all these years, she still had a special corner of her heart reserved for him. Yearning for him.

* * *

Marinette was single — _again_ — after breaking up with Luka, who’d gotten a guitarist job in a luxury cruise ship early in the year. It was a great opportunity: travellers included celebrities, movie and music stars, and the occasional billionaire entrepreneur. The deal had even included a job as a stylist for the socialites aboard if she wanted to join him. Still, leaving Paris was impossible, and long-distance just wouldn’t cut it for them, as they knew from his occasional tour. There was only one choice, which was to let him go and end their three-year relationship.

Her phone’s insistent buzzing startled those musings out of her. _Right. Time to save Paris again._ Marinette pulled Alya to the side with another lame excuse.

“I… I have a headache. I need to go out for some medicine.”

“Oh, but I should have something—”

“No, no I-I’m allergic- yes- allergic to aspirin and all the usual meds, I need to get a special one.” She hastily grabbed her coat and clutch. “Anyway, I’ll be back soon.”

“At least let Nino drive y—”

“NO! I mean no need, um, there’s a 24-hour pharmacy around the corner… I just hope there isn’t a big queue! Ha-ha. If I’m back late that’ll be the reason—”

“Okay girl, go ahead. You’d better be here before midnight, though!”

“I’ll try!” Marinette said as she ran out the apartment door.

* * *

Fortunately, the Akuma was easy to defeat, leaving her with plenty of time before the New Year rang. _Un_ fortunately, she had used her Lucky Charm and detransformed on the other side of the city, and even the Métro wouldn’t get her to Alya’s in time for the twelve strokes.

She briskly walked away from the alley where her timer ended. Usually, the timer gave Ladybug a few more minutes, but the night was cold and the battle took its toll on poor Tikki. Expecting to get goodies at the party, Marinette didn’t bring any cookies in her stylish but tiny purse, so she gently put her kwami in her coat pocket.

_Thank goodness I have the coat, but these heels weren’t made for running across the city._

Neither was her evening dress — nothing too fancy, but it was short and the fabric was delicate, meaning she was freezing as soon as she detransformed.

Concentrating on her phone to try to get a taxi, she’d taken a couple of steps away from the alley when a familiar voice coming from above startled her.

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

_Oh, right. He didn’t use his Cataclysm._

“Good evening, Chat Noir,” she smiled as her partner slid down his baton and kissed her hand, dramatic as ever.

Well, not exactly — he’d stopped kissing _Ladybug’s_ hand a while ago, after confessing he was seeing someone. Marinette found herself missing his silly flirtations, even the most inconvenient ones.

“Good evening, Princess,” he said after straightening his back. “Do you need a lift?”

He looked sad and more tired than usual.

“Don’t you have to go? No one _special_ expecting you?”

“No.” A deep, involuntary sigh escaped him. “Nobody special, anyway.”

With a soft smile, he offered his hand and bowed again so she could grab on to him. He stretched his baton above the rooftops.

“Where to, Mi— Marinette?”

_Weird._

“To my friend’s place, you know, the Ladyblogger?”

“Oh, right, Alya’s party. I know where she lives.”

_Weirder._

“Do you?” She asked as he started to bounce over the rooftops in the right direction. “Are you stalking the press now?”

“I would never!” Chat Noir gasped in mock affectation. “It’s just that— I saved her many times too, you know!”

Marinette didn’t reply, just held tighter and hid her face against his chest to keep warm. It wasn’t so bad to be carried like this.

* * *

The New Year was only a few minutes away when they got to Alya’s quiet street. It took a moment for Marinette to slide down his body to stand on the sidewalk.

“Well… Thanks for the ride.” She felt bad for him, alone on a night like this. “Do you want to come up for the toast? I’m sure Alya would love to have you.”

“No need, I… need to go.”

Marinette got up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

“Bye then, Kitty”, she waved, turning around to enter the building.

Just when she was about to ring the bell, Chat Noir stopped her hand with his own.

“W-wait.”

Marinette turned back around to look at Chat Noir. He looked nervous.

“H-how did you get to that place, anyway?”

“I-I… took the wrong bus?”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Alya’s your best friend. You wouldn’t take the wrong bus, you’ve been coming here for ages.”

“I—” Marinette was grasping at straws. “I… fell asleep on the bus—”

“Nope. There are no buses in that industrial zone. And you’re known to be late often, but I don’t think you’d be _that_ late tonight.”

Marinette had no response for that. Her brain was swirling with poor excuses, but she knew none would work.

“In fact,” Chat Noir added, his cheeky grin barely masking his hesitation. “I know for a _fact_ that you were here just before the Akuma.”

“H-how would you know that? I-I was—”

“And by _sheer coincidence_ , I saw Ladybug swinging down to the alley you walked out of.” He was tapping his chin and looking up to fake deep thought, then clicked his fingers and pointed at Marinette. “You must have bumped into her.”

“I… I—”

“You know, I’ve had my suspicions in the past.” Chat Noir hesitated a little before going on. “When I saw Ladybug and Marinette together, my heart broke a little. I was so happy that day, thinking _you_ could be _her_.”

Still speechless, Marinette held his gaze, her heart thumping in her chest. She hadn’t noticed how close he was.

“Silly Kitty,” she whispered. “You barely know me.”

“I _do_ know you, Marinette.” Chat Noir held her gently by the shoulders. “I know you are strong, courageous, and _insanely_ talented. I know your favourite colour is pink, but you love red and black, too. I know you look cute when you are sleepy and you like to cuddle. I know you always smell like vanilla and cinnamon, and it drove me crazy that Ladybug sometimes smelled the same and I just couldn’t place it. I know you were my first friend when I started going to public school and that my first proper dance with a girl was with you—”

“Wait,” Marinette interrupted him, taking a step back. “Say that again?”

“Which part?”

“First friend? First dance? Y-you mean…” Marinette was still trying to put every piece together. “Adrien?”

Nearby, a church bell began to strike midnight, prompting collective whoops and cheers from the surrounding buildings.

Chat Noir smiled and nodded, resting his head on hers as he held her in a hug. For the second time that night, Marinette got on tiptoes to pull his face closer.

The tip of his nose brushed against hers, like a kitten begging for affection. She complied by kissing him on the lips, gently at first, more and more eagerly as the bells continued to ring.

They kissed through the twelve strokes, then the lightning of fireworks began just above them. Chat Noir released his hold on her so they could appreciate the scene. A cheeky grin started to form on his face.

“Well, _that_ was a New Year's Eve kiss you won't forget anytime soon.”

Marinette elbowed him playfully.

“Come on, Tomcat. Let’s get you, er, changed and go back to the party.”

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “Well, that was a New Year's Eve kiss you won't forget anytime soon,” with Marichat, requested by [Fleur_de_Jasmin.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_de_Jasmin/)
> 
> Thank you to my betas, [marvelousmsmol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelousmsmol) and [tentativesapling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentativesapling).
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.  
> English is not my first language and I tend to use UK English. If you catch any inconsistencies please let me know.
> 
> [My Tumblr.](https://maggies-scribblings.tumblr.com)


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